What counties should do to rein in wayward motorists

An NTSA officer confiscates number plants from vehicles that were found non-compliant with traffic laws during an enforcement exercise on Nairobi's Southern Bypass on January 2 2026. [Juliet Omelo, Standard]

Every year, the average Kenyan motorist drives about 22,000 kilometres – the distance from Nairobi to Cape Town and most of the way back again. That is a lot of tarmac, a lot of fuel, and far too many close calls with the millions of us who never sit behind a steering wheel.

While motorists clock those kilometres, pedestrians – the overwhelming majority of road users – are treated as moving obstacles to be hooted at, scattered, or worse.